DBS Writer

...In terms of the scheme, the Bears will remain a 4-3 base team. But having coaches with experience in a variety of different systems will give them the versatility to take advantage of what their players do best...

SuperFanDBS Writer

I'm fine with the 4-3. What I'm not fine with is having a crappy D. Emery needs to get Mel the players, and then Mel needs to show he can coach the unit at a high level. I really don't care what scheme they use. If it's a 4-3 then acquire quality players to play THAT one well. I think fans get too hung up on 4-3 versus 3-4 or hybrid. It's not the scheme so much as having the players and coaches to excel in the given scheme.

SuperFanDBS Writer

LINKTrestman’s last remark explains why the Bears plan to stick to a 4-3 front: those types of players are what the team has in terms of personnel. Switching over to a 3-4 front would require the Bears to spend at least one entire offseason bringing aboard players that fit that scheme.

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Bears expected to stick with 4-3
February, 18, 2014
Feb 18
By Michael C. Wright | ESPN.com
Chicago plans to stick to its base 4-3 defense, according to a story posted on the team’s official website, and that falls in line with what league sources have said all along about the team’s future, despite recent additions of coaches with 3-4 backgrounds.

At the conclusion of the regular season, rampant speculation circulated about the possibility of the team moving to a 3-4 front after the Bears put up historically horrid numbers during a 2013 season in which they surrendered the most yards (6,313), points (478), and rushing yards in franchise history and rushing yards (2,583). But the club refused to tip its hand as to plans for the 2014 season.

“I can say this: We know we have the coaching ability to move scheme,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said when asked specifically about a potential switch to a 3-4. “We have that kind of intellect in this building. I've said this early on: We're not looking to put a square peg in a round hole. [General manager] Phil [Emery] is going to do everything he can to give us the best possible players. I don’t know. Everything is on the table in terms of a discussion. Once we get an evaluation from inside-out of what our players can do, then we’ll move forward with what we can do with them schematically. Part of our decisions and how we move forward schematically will be based on the players that are in our locker room.”

Trestman’s last remark explains why the Bears plan to stick to a 4-3 front: those types of players are what the team has in terms of personnel. Switching over to a 3-4 front would require the Bears to spend at least one entire offseason bringing aboard players that fit that scheme.

The club’s acquisition of former Jaguar Austen Lane on Tuesday provided further evidence of the team’s plans to stick to a 4-3. That’s not to say the Bears won’t experiment. The addition of defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni and linebackers coach Reggie Herring gives the Bears flexibility if they decide to try different looks based on their backgrounds in 3-4 defenses.

“It’s a matter of being to utilize the people that we have and be ready to do whatever it’s going to take with a system that’s flexible enough to do it,” Trestman told the team’s official website. “It’s making sure we have a scheme that can utilize our players and bring the best out of them.”

Obviously one component of that might involve the Bears veering away some from the defense brought to the team by former coach Lovie Smith. So while it’s likely Chicago will continue to run some elements of Smith’s system, it’s also expected that the Bears will become more multiple to prevent opponents from catching on to what they’re doing on a game-by-game basis.

“We want to be very stout and physical in the run game and then in the passing game be able to pressure with four guys,” Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker told ChicagoBears.com. “Our pressure packages will fit our personnel and be dynamic enough where we can play to guys’ strengths and be unpredictable.”

DBS Writer

Bear, lets look at how they bring in via FA and draft. They bring back a guy like DJ and then draft a guy like Hagemen, then the arrow is pointing to a diverse scheme, using the players versatility, much like the staff, even if it is a base 4-3.

If they bring in a more tradition MLB and draft a guy like Donald, it's going to be a straight 4-3 w/more hopes of high impact players.

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